Søndeled


Søndeled is a former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964 when it was merged into the municipality of Risør. The municipality encompassed the land around the Søndeledfjorden. The administrative centre of Søndeled was the village of Søndeled at the innermost part of the Søndeledfjorden. Other villages in Søndeled included Stamsø, Akland, Moen, Bossvika, and Sivik. The main churches for Søndeled municipality were Indre Søndeled Church in the village of Søndeled and Ytre Søndeled Church in the east, just outside of the town of Risør.

History

The municipality of Østerrisør landdistrikt was created on 1 January 1838. It was called Østerrisør to distinguish itself from the municipality of Vesterrisør and the neighboring town of Østerrisør. In 1865, the name was changed to Søndeled. On 1 January 1867, an uninhabited part of Søndeled was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Dybvaag. Later, on 1 January 1901, a small urban area of eastern Søndeled was transferred to the neighboring town of Risør.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Søndeled was merged with the town of Risør to become the municipality of Risør.

Name

The municipality is named after the local fjord. The first element comes from the word sundene which means "straits" and the last element is led which means "path" or "way". Hence the name is the "path between the straits".